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Zek declares Quark's quarters as "the headquarters of the sole legitimate government of Ferenginar;" their plan is for Ishka to convince the Commissioners that Ferengi females are, indeed, intelligent. Quark, Rom and Nog agree to help Zek by sending messages to all FCA Commissioners, requesting a conference for Ishka's "demonstration." All the Commissioners decline – save Nilva, chairman of Slug-o-Cola, who is a conservative man with a lot of influence.

After Acting Nagus Brunt appears on the station, the plan to convince Nilva is in jeopardy, especially since Ishka has a heart attack after arguing with Quark. As a female is required for their plan, Quark agrees to have his sex and appearance altered by Doctor Bashir. But Nilva arrives early on the station while Zek and the others are busy teaching "Lumba," as Quark is now called, female behavior.

During dinner with Lumba, Nilva is convinced of the opportunities that Zek's feminist approach presents. The main argument of this approach being that clothing includes pockets, and females will thus want to make more money in order to have something to put in those pockets. His change of heart is no doubt because Nilva fell in love with Quark. Brunt somehow figures out that Quark has turned into a female and tries to tell both of them otherwise. After showing his female body to both men, Nilva is convinced and agrees to do everything in his power to support Zek's suffragist Bill of Opportunities amendment "because that is what Lumba wants." Brunt still proclaims Lumba is a man, but it gets him nowhere.

Bashir later restores Quark to normal. When Aluura tells him she has been studying oo-mox, Quark initially tells her she doesn't need to, but soon changes his mind.

The original idea for this episode came from René Echevarria; "We were all at lunch, talking about doing an episode about Moogie, the feminist movement, and giving Ferengi women the right to vote. It was a very preliminary discussion, and I said, 'I have this feeling that Quark ends up in a dress. I don't know why, but I think somehow Quark and Rom have to masquerade as women in order to pull something off." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Echevarria's idea was seized upon by Ira Steven Behr, although he knew that the proposed episode carried risks; "The idea was to do a character comedy. We wanted to take this misogynist character and make him into a woman. But it's very difficult, for a lot of reasons, to get people on board with stuff like this, and when they do get on board they tend to go too far, or too broad, or they lose the reality, or they're not comfortable with it. And if any of those things are true, it won't work." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Armin Shimerman reportedly hated the script for this episode, as he felt Quark did not learn anything from his experience as a woman. Indeed, the original script had Lumba crying a great deal, but Shimerman refused to play it that way as he felt it was a negative stereotype against women. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Shimerman elaborated: "Quark has been a chauvinistic pig all of his life. He becomes a woman. Should he not learn or realize something from that experience? That would have been a great episode, to see Quark begin to realize the error of his whole culture's ways". ("The Once and Future Ferengi: Armin Shimerman Reflects on Quark", Star Trek Communicator, issue 130)

It is generally accepted amongst the writers and cast that the main problem with the episode is that while the writers wrote it as high-farce, director Alexander Siddig and actor Armin Shimerman saw it as a much more serious piece, in the tradition of "Family Business"; a comic episode with serious undertones. As Shimerman says of Siddig, "He wanted to make it less of a comedy and more of an exploration of the relationship between a bickering mother and son. He tried to push the envelope and take Quark into an area that Quark isn't used to going in. I applaud him for it, although we reshot some of the scenes, like the heart attack, because he had a much darker vision than the writers had imagined." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Cecily Adams also refers to the heart attack scene when discussing the episode; "Sid wanted to explore how people who love each other really can hurt one another. Quark and Moogie have a very complicated relationship, and they each have access to that place in the other where they can cause hurt, and they both use it. The first time we shot the heart attack scene, it was very dark and the pace was slow. It was actually disturbing. We wouldn't have played it any differently had we not been wearing rubber masks. Armin and Sid really liked it, but when I watched it in dailies, I didn't like it. Even though it was an interesting exploration of the dark side, I didn't think it was exciting enough. And apparently the producers felt that way too. They wanted it more humorous." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

In the end, according to Shimerman, the reason the episode ultimately failed was because it was half serious/half comic, and the two halves didn't gel; "It could have been a more serious dramatic piece or it could have been funnier. But it was neither one nor the other." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

Chase Masterson commented "I have to tell you, I had the most fun in "Profit and Lace". Teaching Quark how to be a woman - how much more fun does it get than that? ("Leave it to Leeta", Star Trek Monthly, issue 46)

This episode continues the Zek/Ishka/Brunt arc seen in the episodes "Family Business", "Body Parts", "Ferengi Love Songs" and "The Magnificent Ferengi". In "Family Business", Ishka is introduced as a female keen on earning profit, and Brunt is the FCAliquidator sent to investigate her. Then, in "Body Parts", Brunt takes Quark's business license away from him for backing out of a contract. In "Ferengi Love Songs" it is revealed that Zek and Ishka are seeing one another, and Ishka is actually helping him run the Empire. At the same time, Brunt tries to expose Zek with Quark's help, and he returns Quark's license in an attempt to get his support. Brunt's plan fails however, and he is subsequently fired from the FCA. A year later, in "The Magnificent Ferengi", Brunt helps Quark rescue Ishka from the clutches of the Dominion, and is rewarded by Zek with his old FCA job.